Consultant - Product Development & Procurement
Your Growth
You will be based in one of our European offices as part of our Operations Practice.
Our Operations Practice assists our clients in solving complex operational challenges. Blending strategic thinking with hands-on practicality, our teams of consultants and experts work to develop and implement operational strategies that solve our clients’ most critical problems.
McKinsey’s Product Development & Procurement service line is committed to helping clients develop products that fit market needs, generate attractive margins, provide platforms for add-on offerings, and enhance brand reputations to drive future business growth. Our work in product development includes defining, developing, and implementing strategies that enable clients to achieve lasting improvements in innovation and business performance. Additionally, our work in procurement focuses on providing clients with support and advising their management teams on strategic and operational matters, such as global sourcing, e-procurement, supplier development, and the formation of purchasing organizations.
When you join McKinsey as a Consultant, you join a firm that will challenge you and invest heavily in your professional development. You will have the opportunity to work in teams and help the best organizations in the world solve some of their most difficult problems.
Your Impact
You will play an active role in problem solving for clients including identifying issues, forming hypotheses, designing, and conducting analyses, and synthesizing conclusions into recommendations.
As part of our two-year Operations Excellence Program (OEP), you will work on client engagements in the same way as any other McKinsey consultant. You will gain leading edge operations and consultancy skills, primarily through on-the-job coaching, which will be complemented by the OEP’s structured capability-building program.
We view the OEP position as the start of a rewarding, challenging and highly flexible career with McKinsey and the Operations practice. During your first few years with the firm, you will serve as a Consultant on multiple client engagements and work with a number of colleagues and clients in a range of industry and operations service lines. You will acquire the necessary knowledge and expertise to help companies achieve excellence in their operations.
Along with other members of the OEP community, you will dedicate many days to functional training and knowledge development under the leadership of our operations experts. You will follow a curriculum based on operations excellence themes and will receive advanced training in one of six specific areas of operations: manufacturing, product development, purchasing, service operations, supply chain management, or capital excellence.
Upon completion of the program, successful consultants will join our global group of leading experts in operational excellence. We already have OEP graduates working at all levels of the firm from associate to partner.
Your application should be in English and include your CV and your transcripts (high school, university, etc.), indicating all relevant grades.
Your qualifications and skills
- Master’s degree and exceptional academics required
- Initial experience in product development (e.g., product optimization/value analysis, leading R&D projects, technical supplier management)
- Initial experience in strategic purchasing and/or supply management (e.g., global sourcing strategies, cross functional category management, RfQ processes and negotiations, talent development and capability building)
- Proven record of leadership in a work setting and/or through extracurricular activities
- Mobility and enthusiasm for taking on European assignments during the work week
- Exceptional analytical and quantitative problem-solving skills
- Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively, both verbally and in writing, in English and local office language
